


The Serpent & The Dove

by DivatheAvid



Series: Serpent & Dove [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt, Multi, Other, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Team as Family, The Avengers: The Avengers Initiative (Comic)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 11:35:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DivatheAvid/pseuds/DivatheAvid
Summary: Aurelia is capable of many things , including manipulating the dreams and fears of those around her — she’s become an asset to the Avengers despite her gruesome past; but what if the Avengers are a mere stepping stone towards her true path in life?
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s), Loki (Marvel)/Reader, Stephen Strange/Reader
Series: Serpent & Dove [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2212425
Kudos: 7





	The Serpent & The Dove

I dream of raven hair and wicked eyes; a serpent of emerald green crowned in gold. My breath quickens as it approaches, slithering over marble tiles towards my prone frame, bypassing my leg and the exposed flesh where my skirt hikes and instead comes to my head, where our eyes lock for a moment far too long.

My brow furrows, my nostrils flare - its hiss is a warning that raises every hair until I am covered head to toe in goosebumps. I struggle to lash out - to shout and ward it off - but my body remains defiantly rigid and my voice hangs dryly at the cusp of my throat. Words upon my tongue, a plea that remains silent; the serpent shifts and its tongue flicks out to relish the taste of fear permeating the space between us.

Then, it is gone.

I wake in a ragdoll-like slump; my face is buried in a pillow barely hanging onto the edge of the sofa arm I am draped over, my hair a veil of curled auburn to hide my ever-shifting expression. Slowly, I ease the tension from my back and sit up, my legs stretching outward until they meet the floor while my palms shoot up to chase the remnants of sleep from my eyes.

" Sleep well, princess? " Nat's voice catches me off guard and nearly makes me jump out of my skin, but I hold myself still and let an all-too-telling smile do all the work. 

"I've got an awful crick in my neck, now. " My response is hardly above a whisper; hoarse and mirthless. 

I barely remember the morning or the late lunch that ended it, a meeting with Tony where everyone but Nat and I failed to show up - the only two dim-witted enough to get roped into a session of Tony listening to himself talk. I rub a clammy, tingling hand over the back of my neck before flinging myself back into the awaiting cushions. Tony's home is nothing short of luxurious, but it lacks both charm and comfort; the couches are richly made, the decor an ode to his wealth, and the ever-present eye of Jarvis a bit too unnerving. For a moment, I let my mind wander back into my dream - analyze its every complexity in search of a meaning, but I'm met with only the cool chill of fear spider-walking its way up my spine. 

" Tony stepped out with Pepper - I promised to keep an eye on you. " She says that as if I need watching; I'm no worse than the rest of them, though I am the newest. She watches me, tilts her head until a stray lock of curled crimson falls into her face and she's left looking like a curious mutt rather than a well-trained spy. 

" You just wanted to watch me sleep, pervert. " I feign my disgust and pull my cardigan tightly over my chest like a lady trying to hold onto the remnants of her modesty; Nat laughs. I was recruited a year ago, with little choice I might add; it was Steve who noticed me first - when I deflected a stray piece of rubble and saved him from a nasty concussion. From then on it was a whirlwind of thinly veiled threats and a plea to consider everything - the world needed heroes, or it would . . .  _ eventually. _ Nat and I became fast friends, we had formed an unspoken bond even without the pressure of being the only women. 

" Maybe I just wanted to cuddle up to you for a bit; gets cold in here, y'know? " her grin is all mischief; from the way her brows lift and her nose scratches, she plays into every joke I throw her way and perhaps  _ that's _ why I adore her so much. I give a lazy shrug of my shoulders and ignore the twinge of discomfort it shoots up towards the base of my skull.

" Then turn the heat up. " For a moment, my accent slips through and I nearly bite my tongue trying to force it to surrender beneath the well-practiced American one I'd been using.

" That's not as fun. " 

Without warning, she buries her nose back into whatever book she's snatched from Tony's belongings and I'm left to fend for myself within comfortable silence. 

A silence that lasts only so long; an hour passes and then there are footsteps - Nat barely flinches, but I'm glancing over my shoulder before I can catch myself. I've survived on caution my whole life -- shielded myself behind my apprehension and learned to judge every person that approached me with a harsh eye. Nat's gone before dinner time, Fury sweeps her from her game of guard without even a simple explanation to me and I'm left alone; alone being a relative term, of course. Jarvis is an ever-present, well,  _ thing.  _ He doesn't speak unless spoken to, or if someone is getting into something they shouldn't be, but the sensation of being watched never leaves; though sometimes I wonder if tony is simply keeping an eye on things from wherever he is _. My head falls back against the top of the sofa and my gaze drifts from the vast expanse of nothingness to the skylight above--not a star in sight thanks to all the light pollution the city offers. It's boring alone, quiet -- it gives me too much time to think, too much time to dwell and I find myself growing increasingly restless as seconds turn to minutes and the sky begins to darken even more with the oncoming storm.  _

I'm drifting off before I know it, my muscles relax just as raindrops begin to beat against the oversized windows and a gentle whisper of thunder sounds in the distance, still too far from the city to be a nuisance. I breathe slowly, prepare myself for the fall, and then ... I plunge beneath the surface. The proverbial stretch of water that separates my mind from dream and reality gives way with ease; it's cool against my skin, like tendrils of budding winter lapping at the ebbing shores of summer -- no longer am I troubled by reality. 

The world shifts; I'm not floating beneath the waves, but using their underbelly as a platform to stand, every subtle movement causing an echoing ripple that shoots out into the distance until I can no longer see or feel it. There are a thousand thresholds before me -- doors that lead to the psyche of another, some darker than others, few too bright. I watch them, watch the previews of stranger's faces and unspoken fears drift between an almost opaque layer of frost -- so close I can reach out and touch them, force myself into them and become one with someone else's subconscious; my own personal dose of a reality beyond mine. 

My foot shifts and I look down to see another ripple, one not caused by me; I'm not alone. Slowly, carefully, I walk along that platform, following ripple after ripple until the time between them grows shorter and I'm certain that I'm nearly right on top of the source. And I am; a serpent of gleaming emerald slithering ahead of me, drifting across dream after dream and poisoning them until they are black as night. I can feel their pain--their torment. It's nauseating but I push through, continue to follow with my breath held and my fingers curled tightly into my palms. 

The serpent falls still, and I fear I've been caught. 

But it's not me it sees, it's something else -- and it vanishes quickly beyond the glossy surface of whatever frozen moment it finds itself in front of. Be it due to curiosity or sheer stupidity, I follow it and drift away from a land under my control into uncharted territory. 


End file.
